Is Australia an island or a continent?....or both?

Question

If its an island doesnt that make Africa and North and South America islands as well since they are land masses entirely surrounded by water?

Answer 1

The answer is both OR a matter of opinion. See below:



* Australia is separated from all other continents by young oceanic crust. Greenland is geologically part of North America.

* Australia has highly distinct plants and animals. Greenland's are largely shared with northern North America.

* Australia is considerably larger than Greenland. If separation is key, then Antarctica should also be considered an island (making Australia second largest).

* Australia has unique, ancient cultures. Greenland's Arctic cultures, while unique, are part of larger North American Arctic culture.

* Everyone agrees that everything smaller than Australia is an island. Australians themselves are divided, and often claim that Australia is both the world's largest island and the world's smallest continent.



So, there are good reasons to assert that Australia is a continent and not an island.



However, it has to be conceded that there can be no definitive answer. The questions only grow more complex when you look at the details:



* By scientific criteria, Madagascar and several other islands are continents.

* Europe is really just a series of peninsulas off western Asia. Only culture, tradition, and a sense of separateness gave it continental status.

* Siberia and Alaska are not part of separate continents geologically. The sea barrier between them is just a happenstance of the current high sea levels of this interglacial period.

* Africa is solidly joined to southwest Asia, though in the process of rifting away.

* The Americas are joined by a substantial but recent land bridge.

Answer 2

Australia is either an island or a continent not both. It depends if you are considering it from a geographical or geological point of view. Geographically it only includes the Australian mainland therefore Australia is a continent, not an island. As a landform, it could be considered an island as it is entirely surrounded by water and not joined onto any other land mass. For this reason, it is often referred to as an island continent. Australia is too big to be FORMALLY classified as an island. The world's largest island is actually Greenland. If Australia is to be considered as an island then Antarctica would be as well making Australia the second largest island in the world. Geologically it includes the entire continental shelf.

A lot of different names have been used to describe the Australian continent: Australasia, Greater Australia, Sahul, Meganesia, Australinea and Australia-New Guinea

New Zealand is not on the same continental shelf and so is not part of the continent of Australia but is part of the submerged continent Zealandia. Zealandia and Australia together are part of the wider region known as Oceania or Australasia.

Answer 3

Is Australia An Island

Answer 4

Australia is of Continental origin, being part of the giant supercontinent of Gondwana with Africa, South America, India,Antartica and other smaller land masses like Papua New Guinea, Madagascar and New Zealand.



With plate tectonics causing continental drift and pulled apart these places to isolate them. Australia has some old old rock...some of the oldest in the world and is quite eroded, why there are few mountains and why there is a lot of salt in the underground water.



Its still considered a continent,and is the only country on Earth to also be a single continent. Its an island in the sense of the word that its isolated and surrounded by water, but its origin is continental.

Answer 5

Australia is a island and not a continent. Australiasia is the continent and this includes Australia and all the surrouding island countries. Africa and North America aren't islands as they are not entirely surrounded by natural waters, but by man made canals.

Answer 6

Australia's a continent.



Island: A land mass surrounded by water and not large enough to be a continent.



Continent: One of the seven main landmasses of the world (Africa, Antartica, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America).



You could always call the continent of Australia, Oceania, Oceania is made up of Australia, New Zealand, Pacific islands and Papua New Guinea. Because if Japan is not attached to mainland Asia and it's still apart of the continent, then I guess the surrounding countries of Australia can be too (besides Indonesia because it's apart of Asia).



More on Oceania: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oceania

Answer 7

Australia is NOT an island. It is a continent, since it's large enough to be called one. You're right there, if it's an island then even Africa and the Americas should be called islands.



Little do people know that the Australian continent contains New Guinea. Thousands of years ago, there was no water/sea between Cape York and New Guinea. There was also dry land between Victoria and Tasmania too.

Answer 8

Australia is not one island, it is a large number of islands including the island State, Tasmania. Mainland Australia is an island but the country itself is more than that. The continent of Australia or Australasia includes lots more islands such as New Guinea, some of the Indonesian islands, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. Some would include New Zealand as well.



By the way, Africa is only artificially an island. It is joined to Asia but the Suez canal has cut through the isthmus.

Answer 9

I believe it's both.



though I had a debate with my (Aussie) husband about it. He thinks Australia is not a continent. But if it isn't then that means it would be part of a continent. So which on is it part of? Asia? Antartica? .... hehe, he didn't have an answer for that.



As far as I know there are 7 continents: North America, South America, Europe, Asia (sometimes combined as Eurasia), Africa, Australia and Antartica.

Answer 10

Australia is the only island continent.

It's also the only country that occupies an entire continent.

Africa and North and South America are not entirely surrounded by water naturally.

They are divided from other landmasses by man-made canals.

Answer 11

The difference is their habitabillity. Although Greenland is becoming habitable: For many years it was not considered habitable, or important. Therefore we are an island. If you take your theory about the water one step further: Everything is an island. From What I understand, Australia is quite large.

Answer 12

Geographically, Australia is a continent. Continents are landmasses large enough to have their own climate system. The largest island in the world is Greenland.

Answer 13

It is both & is the largest island in the world

Answer 14

yeah i know what you mean. i've tried to work it out but i don't know. and australia is both

Answer 15

both